curl1982

I am learning a new choreography for a performance at a family party. I have been dancing every evening for 1 hour or 2.

I woke up 2 days ago with an ache in my right hip. I first panicked and thought it's arthritis or osteop... (spelling?) but I am only 25 and have no family history of arthritis.
I then realised that it must have soemthing to do with my evening training.

Could it be that I haven't warmed up enough?
Any tips how I can warm up effectively? I normally do a slow dance with stretching and shaking of each body part until I start sweating.

I can still feel the pain in my hip when I walk, particularly when the right foot is at t he back and left foot at front (the moment when you walk and stretch one leg back). And also when I lie on that hip it really aches.

I hope I have only pulled something... I hope it won't last and I hope it doesn't influence my belly dance ambitions!!!

Shanazel

Do you normally dance an hour or two every evening or is this a new schedule? To go from, say, forty minutes every other day to two hours every night is enough to give anyone sore muscles. Often pain exists to tell us we are doing something harmful to ourselves and to slow down, already. Give it a rest and see if it improves. If not, get thee to a doctor.

My own doctor recommended that I take a couple of ibuprofen for its anti-inflammatory properties before each of my classes and practices. Might help you as well, but not if you continue to push yourself and only use medicine to disguise the problem.

Good luck. Aches and pains are really- well, a pain.

Samira bint Aya

It sounds like you overly-exerted yourself. If it is a muscular pain, it should pass within a couple of days.

I get that kind of thing from time to time. I find that stretching helps a little. Why not try focusing more on arm movements, and upper body work for a couple of days. Resting you legs a little, might help.

__________________
Each dancing step brings a fresh breeze سميرة

Marya

I had hip pain in my right hip when I was a beginning dancer which remained a nagging problem for years. Certain movements caused the hip to really be a pain.

I had to change teachers because one moved away and from the new teacher I learned how to do some movements differently than before. this markedly reduced the pain.

the specific movements that I am talking about were vertical figure 8s. I learned a better posture from the new teacher that required me to really hold my abdominal muscles in while executing this move.

You may also be experiencing some repetitive stress.

I do have arthritis and it runs in my family, but I can tell the difference between arthritic pain and pain caused by over use. For me arthritic pain gets better with dancing not worse.

Marya

Shanazel

My arthritic pain also improves while dancing, but after I cool down, I am liable to pay for the temporary relief with a remarkable amount of stiffness- the ibuprofen helps, as do some modifications in how I dance and how I teach. It really sucks to have a 53 year old body and a 23 year old attitude about what I ought to be able to do.

adiemus

Frosts your apricots huh?!!!
I agree with the suggestions everyone else has made - I'm still getting over a pain in the lateral aspect of my iliac crest - it's probably a tendon pull for me rather than a muscle... Anyways, long slow stretches, pain relief so I can continue to dance, and heat help. If it's muscular it will settle quickly, if it's tendon it will take a little more time, if it's joint it will ease up with movement for a while then kick in when you've done a bit too much...
But given that there is little treatment except time and movement, it's not really worth getting medical opinion unless it's getting worse over time and/or there is redness, swelling, bruising that isn't going away...

__________________
He wahine, he taonga- Every woman is a treasure(Maori proverb)

belly_dancer

my memory!!! is the iliac crest the same/near the top of the ITB band?? If so I stressed that alot as a beginner dancer.... VERY important to learn how not to hyper extend your hips!!

adiemus

The ilio-tibial band runs from the ilium to the tibia (near the knee) - .
This article is quite helpful: Iliotibial Band Syndrome: A Common Source of Knee Pain - April 15, 2005 - American Family Physician
but most of the time the pain is near the knee - the insertion of the ITB - whereas this is hip pain?
But you can probably do some of the stretches for ITB and see whether the hip pain responds positively to them
I hope this helps!

__________________
He wahine, he taonga- Every woman is a treasure(Maori proverb)

belly_dancer

wow!! thanks for the info... as far as I can tell my pain (which a massage therapist ... certified for sports told me was my ITB band...).. seemed to be where part of the ITB band looks like it dives under the other part where it starts to curve upward towards the crest...
if I stand w/ my left knee locked & hyper extend my left hip side & slightly back... it would be at the farthest out bony protrusion (not so bony anymore!!)
does that make sense in the scheme of things???
It used to hurt my "standing" (in my case left) leg/hip most... esp. during after repeated hip drops... I learned to control it by squeezing my left glutes w/ each (right) hip drop... so my left hip would not hyper extend..
also on mayas (downward figure 8's) I found that by keeping my low spine long (tail bone towards floor/pubic bone pulled up toward belly button) & heels on the floor... AND pushing my working hip DOWN.. rather than lifting the other hip..... using/stretching the muscles in the torso rather than the outer thighs....helped & other good by products= really toned obliques... PLUS a KILLER maya!

jenc

Can you all turn your attention to swollen knees. What am I doing wrong?